


Marmalade

by someoneplsloverobbierotten



Series: LazyTown Ship Week 2018 [7]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: Adopting, Animal Sickness, Cats, Day 7 - Pets/Animals, Kittens, M/M, MOSTLY SAD BUT ENDS HAPPY I SWEAR, Vets, animal adoption, at least hopefully the length will make up for it, i do not know how to tag this fic im sorry, lazytownshipweek, this is so late oml, will i ever give robbie a quiet cat in my fics??, will i heck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 11:30:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13612431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/someoneplsloverobbierotten/pseuds/someoneplsloverobbierotten
Summary: An incident with Ziggy's pet rabbit, Bonnie, leads Sportacus and Robbie to spend their day at the vets.It turns out to be quite the rollercoaster of the day.





	Marmalade

**Author's Note:**

> Two main notes here.
> 
> 1.) I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED OKAY THIS GOT AWAY FROM ME REEEEAL FAST. WAS GONNA BE SHORT AND SWEET WITH LIKE 6% SADS, ENDED UP LONG AND EMOTIONAL WITH 76% SADS. APOLOGIES.
> 
> 2.) this is up SO late and im so sorry omg, combination of extra work shifts and appointments that all stacked up unexpectedly meant that this took so long to finish but!! lazytownshipweek is officially over! (and has been for like 5 days shhh) I loved doing it and it was a fantastic challenge to try and write AND post something every day, and i got to write for a bunch of ships i'd never done anything for before, so yay! :)
> 
> enjoy the final piece :)

Sportacus _hates_ going to the vets.

To be fair, he's only ever been perhaps a maximum of twice, but both times had brought nothing but bad news.

Yet here he is now, sat in a little plastic chair in the waiting room of a veterinary clinic, Ziggy on his lap and Robbie sat beside him, clasping Sportacus's hand tightly. The waiting room has tried to be cheerful, with lots of colourful posters and informational leaflets along the walls and toys for animals scattered about, but it hasn’t quite managed it. To Sportacus - and, he suspects, to Robbie too - the whole thing just feels _bad;_ cold and sterile.

"Sportacus?" Ziggy asks, drawing the hero out of his thoughts. He's far too quiet, sat on Sportacus's lap with an uncharacteristic stillness. He looks up at the Elf, eyes watery with tears. "Is Bonnie going to be okay?"

Bonnie, Ziggy's rabbit, had been rushed into the vets by the three of them almost fifteen minutes earlier. While Ziggy's grandmother was away visiting a friend, Ziggy was staying over at Stephanie's, and had been going over each morning and each night to feed her. This morning hadn't found her in the best state; she'd been huddled in a corner, wheezing and breathing shallowly, and Sportacus had come as fast as he could when his crystal had started screaming, Robbie hot on his heels.

Sportacus wants to tell Ziggy that, yes, Bonnie will be fine, she just swallowed something she shouldn't have and will be happy and healthy soon. But he can't say that, because what if that's not what happens? Sportacus can't make a promise like that, can't say everything will be okay when theres a very real chance it won't be, not about this.

"The vet will do the best that they can," Robbie answers when Sportacus takes a little too long, and the Elf squeezes his hand gratefully. Robbie gives him a tight, but understanding smile.

Ziggy falls quiet again, but Sportacus can tell he's thinking hard. Sportacus really, really hopes they're not what he's thinking about too.

Just when Ziggy looks up to ask another question the vet that they'd handed Bonnie into comes through the doors at the behind the reception desk, coming around the side of it to head towards them. Sportacus lets out a relieved breath as Ziggy abandons his previous thought and squirms down off of Sportacus's lap.

"Where's Bonnie?" Ziggy asked frantically, before either adult could stop him, "is she alright?"

The vet, Sarah, took the question in her stride. "She's resting," she said, "don't worry."

"What happened?" Robbie asked, and Sarah turned to him.

"To put it simply, she swallowed a stone," Sarah told him, "and it blocked her airway. Not to drastically, thank goodness, but it made it rather hard for her to breathe for a while."

Sportacus hates to ask in front of Ziggy, but… he has to.

"Will- will it require surgery?"

As he expected, Ziggy's eyes go wide and he looks up to sportacus fearfully. Sportacus squeezes the boys little hand as reassuringly as he can.

"Actually no," Sarah says, "the blockage um… naturally removed itself from Bonnie's system a few minutes ago you arrived. She's absolutely fine."

"What?" Ziggy asks, looking up at the vet confusedly.

"She pooped it out," Robbie clarifies for him, and Sportacus removes his hand from his boyfriend's so he can sigh into it.

 _"Ew!"_ Ziggy shouts, just as Robbie looks at Sportacus with a slightly offended "what?"

Sportacus just shakes his head and reaches back down to take Robbie's hand again.

Sarah smiles at them. "Bonnie's doing perfectly well, but she will need to rest for a few days. You won't be able to let her out of her pen for a while when you get home, and she'll need to have a softer diet for a week or so. We would, however, like to keep her here overnight, just as a precaution."

Ziggy frowns and Sportacus sees his lip wobble.

"Ziggy," he hurries to tell the boy, "it's alright-"

"But why can't she come home now?" Ziggy wants to know, "is she still in trouble?"

"It's like when you're sick kid," Robbie explains, "even when you start feeling better you always stay an extra day off school, right? Just to make sure you're completely better before you go anywhere."

"Oh," Ziggy says, "so… she's staying here just to make sure she's completely better - before she comes home?"

Robbie nods and pats him gingerly on the head. "Exactly, kid."

Ziggy turns to pin what is quite a terrifying glare for a six year old onto the vet. "And she's just staying over for _one_ night?"

Sarah is clearly biting back a smile. "Yes," she assures Ziggy, "just the one. She'll be with a couple of other rabbits are staying over too."

Ziggy gasps, hands flying up to his mouth, "like a bunny _sleepover?"_ he shouts.

Sarah grins. "Exactly."

"Alright then," Ziggy declares, "Bonnie can stay."

"Thank you," Sarah says, smiling. "Now, your parents are going to have to fill out some paperwork-"

"We're not-" Sportacus starts, but Robbie waves him off.

"I'll handle it," he says, following Sarah over to the reception desk and taking the proffered clipboard. "I don't think it needs more than one signature - and _I_ have insurance."

Sportacus blushes. It was hard to get human insurance when you didn’t grow up in human society okay. At least Robbie had an official identity to do stuff with.

"Actually I think you need pet insurance for this, not uh, human insurance," Sportacus tells him, and Robbie scoffs.

"Who needs pet insurance when you’re a rich genius?" Robbie says instead, tapping his forehead with the pen, "this baby pays for itself."

Sportacus can't really argue with that. He stands back while Robbie fills out the information, listening to Ziggy chat with (i.e. interrogate) Sarah about the conditions Bonnie will be living in overnight. It's very amusing to Sportacus, watching this tiny boy demand only the finest of care for his rabbit. He's not the only one - Robbie's smirking while he fills out the form and Sarah herself is trying very hard to keep a straight face while Ziggy talks to her.

Ziggy is just asking whether or not the vets will provide carrots or if he'll have to deliver them himself when the door behind the reception desk opens again, admitting a tall man carrying a very tiny, very loud patient.

Ziggy stops talking immediately, watching the vet take the tiny tortoise kitten - which is mewing like a scratchy violin - across the waiting area and into a side room. From what Robbie and Sportacus could see, it's missing a foreleg; a small bump of bright blue tape up near its shoulder instead, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping it in any way from batting at the vet's arm with its remaining front paw.

"Who was _that?"_ Ziggy gasps, awed by the adorableness of what he's just witnessed.

Sarah chuckles, gazing fondly at the now closed door that the kitten had dissapeared through. "That was Marmalade," she tells him, "she's one of our newest residents - Charles was just taking her to be set up in her new pen, for when people come to adopt."

"She's very cute," Ziggy says.

"Hah! Isn't she?" Sarah beams, "she's very playful - even if she does sound a bit like a broken radio."

"Will she get adopted soon?" the boy asks, curious.

 _"Please,"_ Robbie scoffs, trying not to smile softly, "she's _adorable_ \- she'll probably be adopted before her little feet even touch the floor of her pen."

Sportacus starts to agree, but the uncomfortable look on Sarah's face has the words get stuck in this throat. He can tell that Robbie's seen it too, the hints of his smile abruptly disappearing.

"Z- Ziggy," Sportacus rasps, throat suddenly a little dry, "why don't you go and pick out a treat for Bonnie?" He points to the stand on the other side of the waiting room. "I'm sure she'd love something new to cheer her up for when she comes home - she'll probably be feeling a little under the weather."

"Okay Sportacus!" Ziggy chirps and rushes off. The two men wait until he's safely out of earshot before they both turn to Sarah, wary.

"Why," Robby asks her, dangerously softly, "is Marmalade not going to be adopted?"

Sarah winces . "It's not- there's a still a good chance that she _could,"_ she tries to assure them, "she's young and sweet and she's _very_ cute."

Sportacus can physically feel the 'but'.

"But…?" Robbie presses, and Sarah deflates.

"But," she sighs, grimacing, "Marmalade was born without one of her front legs. Cats - even kittens - with such disabilities don’t tend to be adopted as quickly… if at all."

Sportacus's stomach ices over. "But- but-" he stutters, unable to believe what he's hearing, "that preposterous, that's- that's _cruel!"_ He tries to keep his voice as quiet as he can, for Ziggy, but he can't keep the anger he feels from seeping into it.

Sarah just nods sadly. "That's the way it is, unfortunately," is all she can say. "I very much wish it wasn't."

Sportacus turns to Robbie only to find his boyfriend practically in tears, any remains of his tough villain façade gone.

"Robbie-" Sportacus starts gently, reaching for the villain's arm, but Robbie turns to him and grips his shoulders desperately, ignoring Sportacus's attempt at comfort.

"We _have_ to take her," Robbie cries, "Sportacus we _have_ to."

"Robbie we-"

"You saw her little _face!"_ Robbie shouts, flinging his arm out towards the door that Marmalade was taken through, "she's only got _three legs,_ Sportacus! We can't leave her here, we just _can't!"_

Sportacus tries to soothe Robbie by stroking his arms but it doesn't work, the villain just becoming more and more upset. Ziggy, hearing the noise, looks up from browsing the rabbit supplies and upon seeing Robbie crying comes rushing over to see what's wrong.

"We can't _leave_ her here!" Robbie wails, "what if no-one takes her? What- what if- what if she d- doesn't get adopted at _all?"_

Sportacus shushes him and slides an arm around his shoulders, the villain sinking into the touch and turning to cry on Sportacus's shoulder.

"What-" Sportacus stops, sighs. He really doesn't want to ask this with Ziggy nearby but he can’t send the boy away again, not with Robbie so clearly upset. "What would happen if Marmalade _wasn't_ adopted?" He asks Sarah, a certain amount of dread in his voice.

"It depends," she replies slowly, one eye on Ziggy. "She'll stay here as long as she can, but as long as we keep getting more arrivals… she could be moved to another shelter or-"

"…Or?" Sportacus asks. His stomach feels like lead.

"Or, if she gets old enough or if theres no space, and there's no sign of a willing family, she… might not move anywhere."

Robbie lets out a pained noise and Sportacus closes his eyes and sighs. Well. That's that decision made then - though if Sportacus is completely honest with himself, it was made the second he saw Sarah's face earlier.

"So she'll just stay here?" Ziggy asks, looking up at Sportacus. He looks confused, but he also looks worried and Sportacus can't tell him the truth.

"Yes." Sportacus says. He doesn't believe in telling lies, he really doesn't, and there are very few times he deems it necessary. This is one of them. He looks up at Sarah. "We'll take her," he says, rubbing a circle into Robbie's back and though she looks pleased, Sarah also looks distinctly uncomfortable.

"I- look, I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to pressure-" she starts but Sportacus cuts her off.

"It's fine," he tries to assure her, "you weren’t-"

"No really," Sarah continues, wringing her hands, "we're not supposed to- to lay it on thick like that, I-"

"You didn't," Sportacus tells her firmly. "You answered a question that we asked and you answered it honestly. It's not your fault that the truth was… perhaps unpleasant." Robbie snorts against his shoulder, the 'yeah right' obvious. "To be honest," the hero says, "we probably would've ended up adopting her anyway, even before you said anything, so don't worry."

Sarah still seems uneasy but she stops trying to apologise, though she does still shoot the crying Robbie a worrisome look.

Sportacus just tucks his boyfriend under his arm.

"Would you like to see her?" Sarah asks them, gesturing to the side-door, "I'd um, recommend actually meeting the animal you're planning on adopting."

Sportacus smiles at her. "That would be nice, thank you."

Sarah smiles back, relieved, and gestures for the three of them to follow her.

 

* * *

 

 

The side-room leads to the shelter area of the veterinary offices. Instead of having to ferry animals between a shelter and a vets, which was disruptive for both the vets and their patients, the higher-ups decided to simply combine the two and expand the vets to include the shelter. Now, the vets has a fully functioning shelter attached to it.

Sarah explains all of this to the three of them as they follow her through the vets and into the shelter itself, which is a carbon copy of the vets. The side-door that Marmalade dissapeared through leads to another reception area, just like the vet's but smaller. Behind the desk is a door, which Ziggy, Sportacus and the still sniffley Robbie follow Sarah through into the room with all of the animal pens.

The vet from before - Charles - is nowhere to be seen, but Marmalade is easily found even before they've seen her, due to the ungodly racket she's making. Sportacus's earlier assessment of her sounding like a scratchy violin was completely correct, and quite frankly the only word to describe it is a caterwaul.

Sportacus glances at Robbie to see how he's dealing with the noise, only to see Robbie smiling as Sarah unlocks Marmalade's pen and lifts the squalling kitten out.

"Hush you," Sarah mumbles, holding her up to her chest. Marmalade does not at all shush and sticks her little paw up against her shoulder so she can push herself up to Sarah's face and yell at her. Her paws are white, which Sportacus didn’t have chance to see before. It's adorable. She has white around her muzzle and down her belly but everywhere else is a multitude of colourful patches.

"She's loud," Ziggy says.

"Yes," Robbie agrees, prompting a worried look from Sportacus. "Just like you."

With this, Marmalade notices her three visitors and stops yelling at Sarah - so she can try and climb over her hands to go and start yelling at Robbie and Sportacus.

Sarah just rolls her eyes. "Would you like to hold her?"

Robbie immediately reaches forward to take her and Marmalade starts trying to clamber into his waiting hands. Her missing leg doesn’t impede her mobility but it does cost her a bit of finesse as she scrabbles from Sarah's hands to Robbie's in a very ungainly fashion.

Sportacus loves her.

Once in Robbie's cupped palms he curls her against his chest for support, so he can hold her close with one hand while he tries to scritch her head with his free one. He doesn’t have much luck however, Marmalade squirming about against his chest. She manages to headbutt him twice in the chin before she gets enough purchase with her front paw to push herself up and screech straight in his face, sounding like someone just shot a small baby.

"She's ours," Robbie declares.

Sportacus smiles. Clearly Robbie's relationship with the kids has come to have a Pavlovian effect on other loud things. "She is," Sportacus agrees, reaching out to stroke under Marmalade's fluffy white chin, she purrs like a rusty engine.

Ziggy gasps. "So you guys are gonna adopt a cat?"

"Looks like it!" Sportacus chuckles. This was very much not how he'd envisioned the day to go after discovering a screaming Ziggy and the barely breathing Bonnie earlier that morning, but he was very pleased about the results.

Sarah smiles at the three of them- well, four now - and closes the pen door. Marmalade obviously isnt going back in there any time soon, since she seems to be perfectly happy sat against Robbie's chest. "I'm glad," she says, "but that does mean more paperwork, unfortunately."

Robbie snorts and reaches his free hand for Sportacus's. "That won't be a problem," he informs Sarah.

"I think we can do this one together, right Robbie?" Sportacus asks, giving his boyfriend a wry grin.

"Yes, Sportaspoon," Robbie says, "I think we can."


End file.
